Issue |
A&A
Volume 465, Number 1, April I 2007
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | L5 - L8 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20067016 | |
Published online | 05 February 2007 |
Letter to the Editor
X-ray emission from MP Muscae: an old classical T Tauri star
1
Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche ed Astronomiche, Sezione di Astronomia, Università di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: [argi;peres]@astropa.unipa.it
2
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: maggio@astropa.unipa.it
Received:
22
December
2006
Accepted:
25
January
2007
Aims.We study the properties of X-ray emitting plasma of MP Mus, an old classical T Tauri star. We check whether an accretion process could produce the observed X-ray emission and we derive the accretion parameters and the characteristics of the shock-heated plasma. We compare the properties of MP Mus with those of younger classical T Tauri stars to test whether age is related to the properties of the X-ray emitting plasma.
Methods.XMM-Newton X-ray spectra allow us to measure plasma temperatures, abundances, and electron density. The density of cool plasma probes whether X-ray emission is produced by plasma heated in the accretion process.
Results.X-ray emission from MP Mus originates from high density cool plasma but a hot flaring component is also present, suggesting that both coronal magnetic activity and accretion contribute to the observed X-ray emission. We find a Ne/O ratio similar to that observed in the much younger classical T Tauri star BP Tau. From the soft part of the X-ray emission, mostly produced by plasma heated in the accretion shock, we derive a mass accretion rate of
yr-1.
Key words: stars: abundances / stars: circumstellar matter / stars: coronae / stars: individual: MP Muscae / stars: pre-main sequence / X-rays: stars
© ESO, 2007
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